Katsina pays N629m WAEC, NECO, NABTEB fees for final year students

From Lawal Sa’idu Funtua, Katsina

The Katsina State government have settled the external examinations fees for final year students in the state to the tune of N629 million.
Of the total sum, N208 million was paid for West African Examination Council, WAEC, NECO – N397 million, NABTEB – N10 million and NBAIS – N14 million.
The Commissioner of Education, Professor Badamasi Lawal Charanchi who disclosed this while speaking to newsmen yesterday, said the amount was for the year 2019.
Lawal said out of the 21,589 candidates who sat for the examination, 7,276 scored five credits and above including Mathematics and English Language, which represents 50 per cent while other 14,481 candidates also scored five credits and above in other subjects, representing 66 per cent.
He said the performance of candidates in the state has been improving since inception of the present administration in 2015.
To this end, the Commissioner attributed the performance recorded to the commitments of the administration in the areas of infrastructural development, recruitment of teachers and training as well as provision of instructional materials, among others.
Prof. Lawal, however, hinted that the state government had earmarked over N20 billion for education sector in the 2020 budget.
The new Vice Chancellor who is an indigene of Niger State was born in Dukku, Rijau Local Government Area of the State. He received his early education at Central Primary School, Dukku, he had his Secondary education at Government Science College, Kagara before proceeding to Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria where he obtained B.Sc. Botany, M.Sc Botany and Ph.D, crop breeding from the same Institution.
Professor Adamu Abu Kasim is a member several professional bodies such as Botanical Society of Nigeria, Genetic Society of Nigeria, National Association of Nuclear Scientist and Science Teachers Association of Nigeria among others.